Look up Gregory or Grégory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Gregory may refer to:

• Electoral district of Gregory, Queensland, Australia
• Gregory, Tennessee, United States
• Gregory, Texas, United States
• Gregory, Western Australia, Australia
• Gregory (car manufacturer), a defunct United Kingdom car manufacturer
• Gregory (given name), a common masculine given name
• Gregory (surname), a surname

See also[link]

• Gregory County (disambiguation)
• Lake Gregory (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Greg is usually a male/mans name

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010)

Gregory Isaacs
Performing at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Gregory Anthony Isaacs
Also known as	Cool Ruler Lonely Lover
Born	(1951-07-15)15 July 1951 Kingston, Jamaica
Died	25 October 2010(2010-10-25) (aged 59) London, England, UK
Genres	Reggae
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1968–2010

Gregory Anthony Isaacs (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)^[1] was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in the New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".^[2] His nicknames include Cool Ruler^[3] and Lonely Lover.

Biography[link]

In his teens, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut with a duet with Winston Sinclair, "Another Heartache", recorded for producer Byron Lee.^[1] The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with two other vocalists (Penroe and Bramwell) in the short-lived trio The Concords, recording for Rupie Edwards and Prince Buster.^[1] The trio split up in 1970 and Isaacs launched his solo career, initially self-producing recordings and also recording further for Edwards.^[1] In 1973 he teamed up with another young singer, Errol Dunkley to start the African Museum record label and shop, and soon had a massive hit with "My Only Lover", credited as the first lovers rock record ever made.^[1] He recorded for other producers to finance further African Museum recordings, having a string of hits in the three years that followed, ranging from ballads to roots reggae, including "All I Have Is Love", "Lonely Soldier", "Black a Kill Black", "Extra Classic" and his cover version of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper".^[1] In 1974 he began working with producer Alvin Ranglin, and that year he had his first Jamaican number one single with "Love Is Overdue".^[1] Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Cocoa Fill Basket"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sidney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop").^[4] By the late 1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, and only challenged by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley.^[4][5] Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.

International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film Rockers, in which he performed "Slavemaster".^[4] The Cool Ruler (which became one of his nicknames) and Soon Forward albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected,^[4] although they are now considered among his best work.^[6] In 1981, he made his first appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival (returning annually until 1991), and he moved on to the Charisma Records offshoot Pre, who released his The Lonely Lover (another nickname that stuck) and More Gregory albums along with a string of increasingly successful singles including "Tune In", "Permanent Lover", "Wailing Rudy" and "Tribute to Waddy".^[7] He signed to Island Records and released the record that finally saw him break through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label (Night Nurse (1982)).^[7] Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was hugely popular in clubs and received heavy radio play, and the album reached #32 in the UK.^[8] This success for Isaacs coincided with drug problems with cocaine which saw him serve a six-month prison sentence in Kingston in 1982 for possession of unlicensed firearms.^[7][9] Isaacs claimed that he had the weapons only for protection, but it emerged that this was his 27th arrest and that Isaacs had become involved in drug dealing and had become addicted to crack cocaine.^[9] He celebrated his release from prison with his second album for Island, Out Deh! (1983).^[7] Isaacs was featured in the 1982 documentary Land of Look Behind.

When his contract with Island ended, Isaacs returned in 1984 with the "Kool Ruler Come Again" single, and began a period of prolific recording, working with producers including Prince Jammy, Hugh "Redman" James, Bobby Digital, Tad Dawkins and Steely & Clevie, maintaining a consistent standard despite the volume of work produced.^[5][7] Isaacs then built a strong relationship with Gussie Clarke of the Music Works label. They began with Isaacs' 1985 album Private Beach Party, and had a massive hit with "Rumours" in 1988, which was followed by further popular singles including "Mind Yu Dis", "Rough Neck", "Too Good To Be True" and "Report to Me".^[7] The association with Clarke continued into the early 1990s, teaming up with singers including Freddie McGregor, Ninjaman and JC Lodge.^[7] He dueted with Beres Hammond on the 1993 Philip "Fatis" Burrell-produced "One Good Turn", Burrell also producing Isaacs' 1994 album Midnight Confidential.^[7]

In the 1990s the African Museum label continued to release all of Isaacs' music, and that of artists he produced. In 1997 Simply Red covered "Night Nurse^{[disambiguation needed ]}" and had a hit with it. Isaacs continued to record and perform live in the 2000s. In 2005 Lady Saw produced another version of "Night Nurse" with her toasting over the original lyrics.

Isaacs' drug addiction had a major impact on his voice, with most of his teeth falling out as a result.^[9] Isaacs said of his addiction in 2007: "Drugs are a debasing weapon. It was the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid – the Cocaine High School. I learnt everything, and now I've put it on the side."^[9]

He also performed at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Inauguration at Jamaica.

In 2007 he collaborated with the Spanish rap group Flowklorikos / Rafael Lechowski album Donde Duele Inspira.

In 2008, after some 40 years as a recording artist, Isaacs released a new studio album Brand New Me, which was nominated for the Grammy Awards for 2010. The album received positive reviews from critics, such as this review from Reggae Vibes: "Gregory is back, and how! 'Brand New Me' is a very suitable album title for the cool ruler's new album. He is back in a different style, more or less like we were used to from this great 'lovers & roots' artist"^[10] This was followed in 2009 by the album My Kind Of Lady.

In 2010, Gregory Isaacs put out the last of his albums to be released while he was still living; Isaacs Meets Isaac, with Zimbabwean reggae singer, King Isaac. In November 2010, Isaacs Meets Isaac was nominated for Best Reggae Album for the 2011 Grammy Awards, giving Gregory Isaacs his fourth Grammy Nomination, and Zimbabwe's King Isaac, his first.

An advertisement for a Gregory Isaacs concert in Negril

Death[link]

After a long battle with lung cancer, Isaacs died on 25 October 2010 at his home in south London.^[11] A memorial service was held on 20 November at Kingston's National Indoor Sports Centre, including a musical tribute from artists including Lloyd Parks and We the People Band, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Shaggy, Judy Mowatt, Mavado, The Tamlins and Bongo Herman, before his remains were interred at the Dovecot Cemetery.^[12]

Discography[link]

More than 500 Gregory Isaacs albums have been released during his career, many being compilations. Studio albums of original material are listed below:

• In Person (1975) Trojan
• All I Have Is Love (1976) Trojan
• The Best Of Vol. 1 (1977) GG's
• Extra Classic (1977) African Museum
• Mr Isaacs (1977) DEB
• Cool Ruler (1978) Front Line
• Soon Forward (1979) Front Line
• Slum (Gregory Isaacs in Dub) (1978) Burning Sounds
• Gregory Isaacs Meets Ronnie Davis (1979) Plant (with Ronnie Davis)
• Showcase (1980) Taxi
• Lonely Lover (1980) Pre
• More Gregory (1981) Pre
• The Best Of Vol. 2 (1981) GG's
• Night Nurse (1982) Island/Mango
• Out Deh! (1983) Island/Mango
• Let's Go Dancing (1984)
• Judge Not (1985) Greensleeves (with Dennis Brown)
• Private Beach Party (1985) Greensleeves & RAS
• Easy (1985) Tad's
• Double Dose (1986) Blue Trac (with Sugar Minott)
• All I Have is Love Love Love (1987) Tad's
• Victim (1987) VP
• Watchman of the City (1987) Rohit
• Come Along (1988), Live & Love
• Red Rose for Gregory (1988) Greensleeves & RAS
• Warning (1989) Firehouse
• Feature Attraction (1989) VP for Mixing Lab records
• No Contest (1989) Greensleeves & VP (with Dennis Brown)
• I.O.U. (1989) Greensleeves & RAS
• On The Dance Floor (1990) Heartbeat
• Call Me Collect (1990) RAS
• Set Me Free (1991) VP, Digital B & Vine Yard
• No Intention (1991) VP
• Boom Shot (1991) Shanachie
• State of Shock (1991) RAS
• Past and Future (1991) VP
• Pardon Me! (1992) RAS
• Cooyah! (1992) Label Unknown...
• Can't Stay Away (1992) VP & Xterminator
• Rudie Boo (1992) Star Trail
• Unattended // Absent (1993) Pow Wow & Greensleeves
• Unlocked (1993) RAS
• Midnight Confidential (1994) Greensleeves for Xterminator records
• Dreaming (1995) Heartbeat
• Not a One Man Thing (1995) RAS
• Private Lesson (1996) Heartbeat
• Mr. Cool (1996) VP
• Maximum Respect (1996) House of Reggae
• Hold Tight (1997) Heartbeat
• Hardcore Hits (1997) Ikus
• Dance Curfew (1997), Acid Jazz – with Dread Flimstone
• Kingston 14 Denham Town (1998) Jamaican Vibes
• Do Lord (1998) Xterminator
• New Dance (1999) Prestige
• Turn Down The Lights (1999) Artists Only
• So Much Love (2000) Joe Gibbs Music
• Future Attraction (2000) VP
• Father & Son (2000), 2B1 – Gregory Isaacs & Son
• It Go Now (2002), 2B1
• Life's Lonely Road (2004)
• Give It All Up (2004) Heartbeat
• Rat Patrol (2004) African Museum
• Masterclass (2004) Greensleeves for Blacker Dread records
• Revenge (2005) P.O.T.
• Substance Free (2005) Vizion Sounds
• Come take my hand (2006) Mun Mun
• Hold Tight (2008) Mafia & Fluxy
• Brand New Me (2008) African Museum
• My Kind Of Lady (2009) Rude Productions
• Isaacs Meets Isaac with King Isaac (2010) King Isaac Music

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn., Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-329-4
• Kiviat, Steve (1996) "Gregory Isaacs", Washington City Paper, December 6 – 12, 1996 (Vol. 16, #49)
• Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9
• Miles, Milo (1992) "RECORDINGS VIEW; Gregory Isaacs, the Ruler of Reggae", New York Times, 2 February 1992
• Perry, Andrew (2007) "The cool ruler of reggae makes a comeback", The Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2007
• Thomspon, Dave (2003) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gregory Isaacs

• Profile @ Reggaeville.com
• Biography: Reggae Vibes
• Biography: Greensleeves Records
• RAS Records discography
• Gregory Isaacs Vinyl Page Some of Isaacs' vinyl releases
• Free Downloads @ JahSmoke.com Isaacs' albums and vinyls

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2007)

Gregory Abbott (born April 2, 1964, New York City, New York) is an American soul musician (keyboards and drums), singer, composer and producer. He currently lives in both New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Biography[link]

Abbott's parents came from Venezuela and Antigua. He is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Antigua. During his early years, Abbott's mother taught him how to play piano and encouraged him to develop vocally.

Before his career as musician, Abbott studied psychology at University of California, Berkeley and creative writing at Stanford; where he won a Wallace Stegner fellowship. Also, he has taught English at University of California, Berkeley.

One of Abbott's first opportunities in his studio was an album for an independent record label, which gave him the opportunity to do a duet with Whitney Houston. Continuing on, Abbott produced for the group EQ on Atlantic Records.

In 1986, Abbott released his first solo album, Shake You Down. The title track for the album was a success, going platinum and topping the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, "I Got The Feelin (It's Over)" which reached #5 on the R&B chart. With the strength of its singles, the album propelled to platinum status and earned Abbott several awards.

Internationally, Abbott carried much success, winning first prize at the Tokyo Music Festival. The title track of his second album, "I'll Prove It To You" which was released in 1988, was featured on a Japanese movie soundtrack. In Belgium, he performed with Princess Stephanie of Monaco.

Abbott is quite active on the World Wide Web and over the years much of his new music has been released via individual songs (singles)....In 2011, a new album entitled "Drop Your Mask" was released by Gregory Abbott on Spectra Records. April 2012 sees the 30th anniversary release of his absolute masterpiece "Shake You Down".

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1986 - Shake You Down (Columbia Records)
• 1988 - I'll Prove It To You (Columbia Records)

"Back to Stay"• "Prisoner of Love"• "I'll Prove It to You"• "Runaway"• "Unfinished Business"• "Crazy Over You"• "Let Me Be Your Hero"• "Take Me Back"• "Two of a Kind"• "She's an Entertainer"

• 1996 - One World! (Musik International)
• 1998 - Super Hits (Legacy Recordings)
• 2002 - Eyes, Whispers, Rhythm, Sex... (Musik International)
• 2005 - Dancing the Inner Realm... (Musik International-Mojo Man)
• 2006 - Rhyme and Reason
• 2011 - Anniversary Edition of "Shake You Down" (Friday Music)
• 2011 - "Drop Your Mask" (Spectra Records)

Singles[link]

• 1986 - "Shake You Down" (U.S.: #1; UK: #6 - on UK charts for 13 weeks^[1])
• 1986 - "I Got The Feelin' (It's Over)" (U.S.: #5 R&B, #56 Pop)
• 1988 - "I'll Prove It To You"
• 1988 - "Let Me Be Your Hero"
• 1994 - "Handyman"
• 1994 - "Do The Caribbean"
• 2002 - "Sexual"
• 2003 - "Three Little Birds" Duet with Phoebe Snow
• 2007 - "Middle of Harlem"
• 2007 - "Shake You Down" (re-recording)
• 2009 - "Baby Mama"
• 2011 - "Soul Food"
• 2011 - "Eyes"
• 2011 - "Drop Your Mask" on Spectra Records
• 2012 - "Island Woman"

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Myspace
• Youtube
• IMDB

Gregory and the Hawk
Meredith Godreau in summer 2007
Background information
Origin	New York, USA
Genres	Acoustic, indie pop, indie folk[1]
Years active	2003–present
Labels	FatCat Records, Pearly Gates!
Website	http://www.gregoryandthehawk.com/

Meredith Godreau is an American singer-songwriter performing under the pseudonym Gregory and the Hawk. Active since 2003, Godreau initially enjoyed independent success with 2 EPs and a full length album selling a total of 15,000 copies.

Biography[link]

Originally from Medfield, Massachusetts, Godreau moved to upstate New York when she was twelve. This was where she learned a number of instruments, including piano, clarinet, oboe, violin and viola before settling on her "$70 Christmas gift": the guitar.

Godreau then took on the pseudonym Gregory and the Hawk in 2003 to avoid being pigeonholed as a singer-songwriter, despite citing her influences as Nick Drake, Liz Phair and PJ Harvey. The name was derived from her brother, Gregory, and his imaginary childhood hawk. This was when she released her demo EP, including early versions of the popular "Boats and Birds" and "Isabelle".^[2] When asked about going by her real name, Godreau responds, "There is no reason for it. But, I’d walk by places and it’d say ‘Playing Tonight – Joe Jones’ and I think that was super-boring and I’d never want to go to that show".

Godreau began playing solo shows in small venues around New England until 2005 when she met Mike McGuire in New York. The two played live shows together for several months before bassist Jeff Ratner and drummer Adam Christgau (both of New York band Paper And Sand) joined the band. The four of them recorded the Boats And Birds EP.^[3]

Boats and Birds[link]

In 2006, Gregory and the Hawk self released the Boats and Birds EP as a home-studio project containing the songs "Isabelle" and "Boats and Birds". Both songs received a great amount of attention on social networking website MySpace, increasing Gregory and the Hawk's popularity. Soon after the release, the four friends moved apart, and so Godreau began playing live with just Ratner on upright bass, and herself on acoustic guitar and vocals.

FatCat Records[link]

In Your Dreams, Gregory and the Hawk's first full length album, was self released the following year with Mike McGuire and Susan Ambrose as the only other players. The album received many positive reviews but it wasn't until a show in Godreau's native Brooklyn that FatCat Records stumbled across her. Before Gregory and the Hawk was signed, Godreau already sold 15,000 copies of her demos and full length album, had 18 pages of cover versions on YouTube, and had several solo shows. As stated by FatCat Records, "[we] discovered our newest signing, Gregory and the Hawk, entirely by accident, whilst out one night at a bar in Brooklyn. An unknown band came on stage and Meredith Godreau began to sing, instantly stunning everyone in the room". A month later, she was in the studio recording her first FatCat single, Ghost and debut album, Moenie and Kitchi, which were both released in September and October 2008, respectively.

During an interview with AU Magazine, Godreau was asked about her work with FatCat Records and responded, "I wasn’t really aiming to be on a record label, but now that I am, there have been so many great people that I’ve met in the last couple of years because of it that I would never, ever say that I wouldn’t want to have that. I’m very glad about the people I’ve met, and not necessarily the technicalities of being on a label". ^[4]

Moenie and Kitchi[link]

In the recording of Moenie and Kitchi, many of the instruments were played by the album's producer, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade), with most vocals and guitars recorded simultaneously in just one take. Gregory and the Hawk took a three-continent tour for this album, taking in support slots for múm, The Album Leaf, Mice Parade, Frightened Rabbit, Asian Kung Fu Generation and other bands.^[5] "Moenie and Kitchi was not produced by me... and I really like[d] it, but it wasn’t very personal to me. I wrote the songs but I felt like it was not something I could have made on my own," Godreau told AU Magazine. Godreau decided to create her most recent album back in her own garage/studio.

Leche[link]

Godreau started working on Leche throughout the winter of 2009, writing and self-recording, then taking her music to a team of friends, engineers, and collaborators including Pierce, as well as Jeremy Backofen (Felice Brothers) and Rob Laakso (Amazing Baby, Diamond Nights, Mice Parade, Swirlies). Godreau writes, "it turned out the idea behind the album was about traveling all around - both physically and psychologically - and observing many different places, people, and behaviors but always from a detached perspective, never directly involved. Traveling was a major influence on the album, as was personal change and growth". The album was released in Canada and the United States on November 9, 2010 and in the UK and Europe on November 15, 2010. ^[6]

Come, Now[link]

Godreau has a new album coming up in June 5 2012 and has posted 3 of her new songs from the new album. Two of them, Cause it's cold and Been too long had been posted in January 2012 while First Flying V had been posted in November 2011. First Flying V can be downloaded for free and those who download can get a bonus track.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• In Your Dreams (2007)
• Moenie and Kitchi (2008)
• Leche (2010)
• Come, Now (June 5, 2012^[7])

EPs[link]

• Gregory and the Hawk (Demo) EP (2005)
• Boats and Birds EP (2006)
• Huckleberry Cherry and Boules EP (2010)

Singles[link]

• Ghost (2008)
• Olly Olly Oxen Free (2010)

Compilations[link]

• The Lonesome Call of the... WHPRWHIL, Whprwhil Records (2006)
• Pickathon, Pickathon Roots Music Festival (2006)
• Nano-Mugen Compilation 2009, Ki/oon Records (2009)

^[8]

References[link]

Dick Gregory
Dick Gregory in March 2010
Born	(1932-10-12) October 12, 1932 (age 79) St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, books
Nationality	African American
Years active	1953–present
Genres	Satire/Political satire, Observational comedy
Subject(s)	American civil rights, American politics, American culture, African-American culture, racism, race relations, vegetarianism, healthy diet
Spouse	Lillian Gregory (1959–present) 10 children
Notable works and roles	In Living Black and White nigger: An Autobiography Write Me In!
Website	www.dickgregory.com

Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory (born October 12, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur.

Gregory is an influential American comic who has used his performance skills to convey to both white and black audiences his political message on civil rights. His social satire helped change the way white Americans perceived African American comedians since he first performed in public.

Early life[link]

As a poor student who excelled at running, Gregory was aided by teachers at Sumner High School, among them Warren St. James. Gregory earned a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University Carbondale.^[1] There he set school records as a half-miler and miler. His college career was interrupted for two years in 1954 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. The army was where he got his start in comedy, entering and winning several Army talent shows at the urging of his commanding officer, who had taken notice of Gregory's penchant for joking. In 1956, Gregory briefly returned to SIU after his discharge, but dropped out because he felt that the university "didn't want me to study, they wanted me to run".

In the hopes of performing comedy professionally, Gregory moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he became part of a new generation of black comedians that included Nipsey Russell, Bill Cosby, and Godfrey Cambridge, all of whom broke with the minstrel tradition, which presented stereotypical black characters. Gregory drew on current events, especially racial issues, for much of his material: "Segregation is not all bad. Have you ever heard of a collision where the people in the back of the bus got hurt?".^[2]

Career[link]

After completing military service, Gregory performed as a comedian in small, primarily black-patronized nightclubs while working for the United States Postal Service during the daytime. In 1961, while working at the Black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, he was hired by Hugh Hefner to work at the Chicago Playboy Club after Hefner heard him perform the following material before a largely white audience:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.

Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."

Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're giving you fair warning. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you". So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!".^[3]

This routine caused a direct request from publisher Hugh Hefner and he was booked as a replacement for the white comedian Professor Irwin Corey.^{[citation needed]} Until then Gregory had worked mostly at small clubs with predominantly black audiences.

Gregory's first TV appearance was on the late night The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar.^{[citation needed]} He soon began appearing nationally and on television.

Post career[link]

Gregory is number 82 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Standups of all time and has his own star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. There is a grassroots effort afoot to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spearheaded by Radio One host Joe Madison.

Gregory is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Gregory was a former co-host with radio personality Cathy Hughes, and is still a frequent morning guest, on WOL 1450 AM talk radio's "The Power", the flagship station of Hughes' Radio One. He also appears regularly on the nationally syndicated Imus in the Morning program.

Gregory appears as "Mr. Sun" on the television show Wonder Showzen (the third episode, titled "Ocean", aired in 2005). As Chauncey, a puppet character, imbibes a hallucinogenic substance, Mr. Sun warns, "Don't get hooked on imagination, Chauncey. It can lead to terrible, horrible things." Gregory also provides guest commentary on the Wonder Showzen Season One DVD. Large segments of his commentary were intentionally bleeped out, including the names of several dairy companies, as he made potentially slanderous remarks concerning ill effects that the consumption of cow milk has on human beings.

Gregory attended and spoke at the funeral of James Brown on December 30, 2006, in Augusta, Georgia.

Gregory is an occasional guest on the Mark Thompson's "Make It Plain" Sirius Channel 146 Radio Show from 3pm to 6pm PST.

Gregory appeared on The Alex Jones Show on September 14, 2010, and again on March 19, 2012.

Personal life[link]

Gregory met his wife Lillian Smith ^[4] at an African-American club; they married in 1959. They have ten children, including one who died at birth: Michele, Lynne, Pamela, Paula, Stephanie (aka Xenobia), Gregory, Christian, Miss, Ayanna, and Yohance.^[5] In 1973 the Gregorys moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts.^{[citation needed]}

Activism[link]

Political activism[link]

This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2012)

Dick Gregory at the Miami Book Fair International of 1984

Active in the civil rights movement, on October 7, 1963, Gregory came to Selma, Alabama and spoke for two hours on a public platform two days before the voter registration drive known as "Freedom Day" (October 7, 1963).^[6]

In 1964, Gregory became more involved in struggles for civil rights, activism against the Vietnam War, economic reform, anti-drug issues, conspiracy theories, and others. As a part of his activism, he went on several hunger strikes.

Gregory began his political career by running against Richard J. Daley for the mayoralty of Chicago in 1967. Though he did not emerge victorious, this would not prove to be the end of his dalliances in electoral politics.

Dick Gregory in 1965

Gregory unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 1968 as a write-in candidate of the Freedom and Peace Party, which had broken off from the Peace and Freedom Party. He garnered 47,097 votes (including one from Hunter S. Thompson^[7]) with fellow activist Mark Lane as his running mate in some states, David Frost in others, and Dr. Benjamin Spock in Virginia^[8] and Pennsylvania^[9] garnering more than the party he had left.^[10] The Freedom and Peace Party also ran other candidates, including Beulah Sanders for New York State Senate and Flora Brown for New York State Assembly.^[11] His efforts landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.

Gregory then wrote the book Write Me In about his presidential campaign. One interesting anecdote therein relates the story of a publicity stunt that came out of Operation Breadbasket in Chicago where the campaign had printed dollar bills with Gregory's image on them, some of which made it into circulation, causing considerable problems, but priceless publicity.

The majority of these bills were quickly seized by the federal government. A large contributing factor to the seizure came from the bills resembling authentic US currency enough that they worked in many dollar-cashing machines of the time. Gregory avoided being charged with a federal crime, later joking that the bills couldn’t really be considered US currency because "everyone knows a black man will never be on a US bill."

Shortly after this time Gregory became an outspoken critic of the Warren Commission findings that President JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. On March 6, 1975, Gregory and assassination researcher Robert Groden appeared on Geraldo Rivera's late night ABC talk show Goodnight America. An important historical event happened that night when the famous Zapruder film of JFK's assassination was shown to the public on TV for the first time in history.^[12] The public's response and outrage to that showing led to the forming of the Hart-Schweiker investigation, which contributed to the Church Committee Investigation on Intelligence Activities by the United States, which resulted in the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation.

Gregory was an outspoken feminist, and in 1978 he joined Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Margaret Heckler, Barbara Mikulski, and original suffragists to lead the National ERA March for Ratification and Extension, a march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol of over 100,000 on Women's Equality Day (August 26), 1978 to demonstrate for a ratification deadline extension for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, and for the ratification of the ERA. The march was ultimately successful in extending the deadline to June 30, 1982, and Gregory joined other activists to the Senate for celebration and victory speeches by pro-ERA Senators, Members of Congress, and activists. The ERA still narrowly failed to be ratified by the extended ratification date, however, but the Women's Movement was largely successful in securing gender equality in the laws and society.

On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival where Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle, and Eddie Palmieri, amongst others, had performed. Gregory gave a speech before Marley's performance, blaming President Carter, and showing his support for the international Anti-Apartheid movements. Gregory and Mark Lane conducted landmark research into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which helped move the U.S. House Assassinations Committee to investigate the murder, along with that of John F. Kennedy. Lane was author of conspiracy theory books such as Rush to Judgment. The pair wrote the MLK conspiracy book Code Name Zorro, which postulated that convicted assassin James Earl Ray did not act alone. Gregory has also argued that the moon landing was faked and the commonly accepted account of the 9/11 attacks is incorrect, among other conspiracy theories.^[13][14]

Gregory was an outspoken activist during the US Embassy Hostage Crisis in Iran. In 1980 he traveled to Tehran to attempt to negotiate the hostages' release and engaged in a public hunger strike there, weighing less than 100 pounds (45 kg) when he returned to the United States.

In 1998 Gregory spoke at the celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with President Bill Clinton in attendance. Not long after, the President told Gregory’s long-time friend and P.R. Consultant, Steve Jaffe, “I love Dick Gregory; he is one of the funniest people on the planet.” They spoke of how Gregory had made a comment on Dr. King’s birthday that broke everyone into laughter, when he noted that the President made Speaker Newt Gingrich ride “in the back of the plane,” on an Air Force One trip overseas.

Gregory was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 1999. He said he was treating the cancer with herbs, vitamins, and exercise, which he believes kept the cancer in remission.^[15]

Since the late 1980s, Gregory has been a figure in the health food industry by advocating for a raw fruit and vegetable diet. He wrote the introduction to Viktoras Kulvinskas' book "Survival into the 21st Century". Gregory first became a vegetarian in the 1960s, and has lost a considerable amount of weight by going on extreme fasts, some lasting upwards of 50 days. He developed a diet drink called "Bahamian Diet Nutritional Drink" and went on TV shows advocating for his diet and to help the morbidly obese. He is probably best remembered for his attempts, chronicled in the media on daytime talk shows in early 1988, at helping 1,200 pound (540 kg) Long Island resident Walter Hudson drop nearly 600 pounds (270 kg) in only a few months on a liquid diet. In 2003, Gregory and Cornel West wrote letters on behalf of PETA to Kentucky Fried Chicken's CEO, asking that the company improve their animal-handling procedures.^[16]

At a Civil Rights rally marking the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Gregory criticized the United States, calling it "the most dishonest, ungodly, unspiritual nation that ever existed in the history of the planet. As we talk now, America is 5 percent of the world's population and consumes 96 percent of the world's hard drugs".^[17]

Gregory announced a hunger strike on September 10, 2010, saying in a commentary published by the Centre for Research on Globalisation in Montreal that he doubted the official U.S. report about the attacks on September 11, 2001. "One thing I know is that the official government story of those events, as well as what took place that day at the Pentagon, is just that, a story. This story is not the truth, but far from it. I was born on October 12, 1932. I am announcing today that I will be consuming only liquids beginning Sunday until my eightieth birthday in 2012 and until the real truth of what truly happened on that day emerges and is publicly known."^[18]

Health Enterprises, Inc.[link]

In 1984 he founded Health Enterprises, Inc., a company that distributed weight loss products. In 1985 Gregory introduced the "Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet", a powdered diet mix.^[19]

Discography[link]

• In Living Black and White (1961)
• East & West (1961)
• Dick Gregory Talks Turkey (1962)
• The Two Sides of Dick Gregory (1963)
• My Brother's Keeper (1963)
• Dick Gregory Running for President (1964)
• So You See... We All Have Problems (1964)
• Dick Gregory On: (1969)
• The Light Side: The Dark Side (1969)
• Dick Gregory's Frankenstein (1970)
• Live at the Village Gate (1970)
• At Kent State (1971)
• Caught in the Act (1974)
• The Best of Dick Gregory (1997)
• 21st Century "State of the Union" (2001)

Books[link]

• Nigger: An Autobiography, with Robert Lipsyte, E.P. Dutton, September 1964. (one account says 1963) (reprinted, Pocket Books, 1965-present)
• Write me in!, Bantam, 1968.
• From the Back of the Bus
• What's Happening?
• The Shadow that Scares Me
• Dick Gregory's Bible Tales, with Commentary, a book of Bible-based humor. ISBN 0-8128-6194-9
• Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' With Mother Nature! ISBN 0-06-080315-0
• (with Shelia P. Moses), Callus on My Soul : A Memoir ISBN 0-7582-0202-4
• Up from Nigger
• No More Lies; The Myth and the Reality of American History
• Dick Gregory's political primer
• (with Mark Lane), Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King
• (with Mel Watkins), African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (Library of Black America)
• Robert Lee Green, Dick Gregory, daring Black leader
• African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (editor) ISBN 1-55652-430-7

Filmography[link]

• "One Bright Shining Moment" (2006)
• The Hot Chick (2002)
• Children of the Struggle (1999)
• Panther (1995)
• Sweet Love, Bitter (1967)

See also[link]

• African-American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954)
• African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)
• Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
• Gregory v. Chicago

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dick Gregory

• Dick Gregory on IMDb
• A short biography from www.dickgregory.com
• Dick Gregory Photographs from the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri–St. Louis
• The Juice on Dick Gregory (dietary habits)
• Dick Gregory's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
• Booknotes interview with Gregory on Callus on My Soul: A Memoir, March 4, 2001.
• Speech by Dick Gregory given on October 20, 1969. Audio recording. From the University of Alabama's Emphasis Symposium on Contemporary Issues.